Real licenses in virtual environments

Virtual environments have become an integral part of today's IT infrastructure. The reasons for their success are just as varied as the technical solutions in the market. Virtualization has, for instance, become the new normal in quality assurance, as it allows tests to be performed easily, quickly, and repeatedly in specifically defined environments. By using virtual machines in the cloud, computing capacity can be scaled up effortlessly and inexpensively. Software that has complex system requirements, especially for already installed software, can conveniently be delivered in a Docker container, along with the required basic setup.

From a technical perspective, virtualization solutions include complete virtual machines running on the developer's computer or virtual machines running in own datacenters. Docker containers represent an additional lightweight solution that does not require the delivery of a complete operating system in each virtual machine. Finally, virtual machines can be run in the cloud, offered flexibly and cost-efficiently by providers like Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Virtualization also creates new threats to consider when protecting and licensing software. Multiple virtual containers may share the same hardware. The special properties of virtual environments, such as the ability to revert to a previous state, may also exacerbate old security issues.